Green Means Friend
by esotaria
Summary: Chad acquires a stalker and a new friend.


Green Means Friend

By Katie

Disclaimer: Chad and Orihime belong to Tite Kubo. THE TOAD IS MINE, BITCHES! XD Set pre-Soul Society.

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"Ribbit."

Chad looked down at his feet and the little down crouched there, doing its best puppy-begging-for-scraps-at-the-dinner-table impression. After three days of being stalked by the little amphibian, Chad decided it was time to acknowledge the creature's existence. He crouched down and picked it up, bringing it level with his own eyes.

"You..." A long pause. "...are not cute."

The toad didn't seem to mind.

Chad sighed and, putting it back down again, stood gracefully. "Go home," he told it politely, and resumed his journey to school.

The toad followed.

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"Oi, Chad," Ichigo said, coming to stand beside his friend's desk, "what's with the toad?"

Chad glanced at the amphibian that was once again sitting at his feet. "It followed me."

"Really?" Ichigo squatted down to get a better look at the toad. "I didn't think toads had personality. Much less stalker tendencies."

"Mmn."

"Uwaaah, is that a toad?" Orihime had been about to walk out of the classroom, but she immediately swooped down on Chad and Ichigo upon seeing the toad. She picked it up and squealed: "Waaa, it's so cute!"

"...you have weird tastes, Inoue," Ichigo said. Chad nodded in agreement.

"But...just LOOK at him, Kurosaki-kun!" Orihime held the toad out for Ichigo's inspection, and toad and girl made identical puppy eyes. "How can you think he isn't cute?"

Ichigo eyed it. "Easy. I just look at it."

Orihime clucked reprovingly, and then turned to Chad. "Is this your toad, Sado-kun?"

"No and yes." Chad explained no further.

"Does he have a tank yet?" Orihime asked, seemingly unaware of the ambiguity in Chad's statement.

"No."

"Well then, the first step is to buy him a tank!" she said cheerfully. She looked over at Ichigo. "You want to come with us, Kurosaki-kun?"

Ichigo shook his head.

"Sorry," he said. "I promised Yuzu I'd help her with her homework tonight."

"All right!" Orihime chirped, looking only a little disappointed. She grabbed Chad's arm. "Let's go, Sado-kun!"

"I don't have any money," Chad said in protest.

"It's okay!" Orihime chirped. "I can pay." She knelt down and picked up the toad. "Come on, Midori-kun!"

"Midori?" Chad asked, following Orihime out of the school.

"Yep! Because he's green!" she said.

They spent the rest of the walk to the pet shop in silence, only broken by Orihime's cheerful humming and occasional nonsense comments to Midori. Chad never said anything himself but quietly enjoyed the girl's silliness.

They reached the petshop and Orihime bounced inside, Chad following more sedately.

"Uwaaaa, look at all the tanks!" she said excitedly.

Chad looked at the prices and winced. They were all on the expensive side of "pricey." He couldn't afford even the cheapest one, and, despite what she said, he doubted Orihime could either.

Regardless of the exorbitant cost, Orihime cheerfully studied the tanks, asking Midori's opinions on certain ones and then acting as if the toad had replied. In anyone else over the age of five such behavior would have been seen as insane; in Orihime, it was just adorable. Chad watched it with a slight smile.

The clerk, a boy of about nineteen years, noticed too, and hurried over.

"Can I help you, miss?" he asked, trying to look at Orihime's face and not her breasts. It didn't work too well, but Orihime didn't notice.

"Yes!" she said. "What's your cheapest tank? Not that I want to get you something cheapo, Midori-kun!" she added hastily to the toad. "But these tanks are all out of my price range."

"Well, we have some cheaper tanks down this way..." The clerk began leading the girl to a back area of the store. Chad coughed slightly, catching the young man's attention, and put on his most intimidating look. It worked.

"On second thought, I believe those are all sold out!" the clerk said, laughing nervously. "But tell you what, miss. I'll give you a discount on the cheapest one we have here. How much can you afford?"

Chad stood protectively behind Orihime as she haggled with the clerk, finally reaching a satisfactory price on an appropriate tank and toad supplies. They left the shop with Midori in a nice, large tank, Orihime humming happily.

"Salesclerk-san was very nice," she said, counting the yen in her wallet. "I think I have just enough left over to get some ice cream! Would you like to do that, Sado-kun?"

Chad shared a look with Midori, then shrugged.

"Wai!" Orihime cheered, and dragged her two companions to the nearest ice cream shop. "What type of ice cream would you like, Sado-kun?"

Chad hesitated, feeling a little guilty about spending so much of Orihime's money. But she seemed eager to do so, and he didn't want to hurt her feelings by being ungrateful. "Vanilla."

"Okay!" Orihime turned to the clerk. "One vanilla cone, please! And a mint chocolate chip sundae with teriyaki sauce!"

"Teriyaki sauce?" the clerk asked, befuddled.

"Yes please!" Orihime affirmed, oblivious to the girl's disgust. Chad couldn't blame the clerk; who in the world put teriyaki sauce on _ice cream?_

Orihime, evidently. And loved it, judging by the gusto with which she ate it. Chad consumed his own cone more sedately, wondering to himself what the girl would do next.

A few minutes into her ice cream, Orihime put down her spoon and looked seriously at Chad.

"Sado-kun," she said, "how long have you known Kurosaki-kun?"

Ah. The real reason behind this adventure. Orihime wanted information on her crush.

"Since middle school," Chad replied.

"Do you have any other friends?"

This question took Chad by surprise. Why was she asking about him? Didn't she want to know more about Ichigo?

"I have a few close acquaintances," he said.

"But no other real friends?" Orihime asked.

"...no."

Orihime frowned, playing slightly with her ice cream.

"That's very sad, Sado-kun," she said. Chad shrugged, but made no reply.

"I hope..." Orihime started, sounding a little shy. "I hope that Sado-kun will come to see me as a friend."

Chad blinked, startled by this.

"I want to be Sado-kun's friend," Orihime continued. "And Ishida-kun's, and Kurosaki-kun's. I want all of us to be friends, because I think, somehow, this will be important."

Chad studied the girl for a long moment. Her face was unusually serious and vulnerable, in an expression that he had only ever seen when she was worried about Ichigo. He wondered why she wore it now.

"...I would like that," he replied quietly.

A smile blossomed on Orihime's face, warming Chad's heart.

"I'm glad to hear that!" she said. "Isn't it wonderful, Midori-kun?"

"Ribbit!" The toad croaked as if in reply. Chad wondered if the amphibian sounded happy or if he was just crazy.

Then again, he thought as Orihime began babbling about only she knew what, with a friend such as her, crazy was a very relative term.

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The End


End file.
